NCAA Basketball: Ranking all 362 D-I head coaches for 2023-24 season

90. Mark Schmidt (St. Bonaventure) (Last year: 88)

• Overall record: 364-303

Schmidt coached at a number of schools, though his finest work as an assistant came under the late, great Skip Prosser at both Loyola-Maryland and Xavier. In 2001, his head coaching career began with a decent run at Robert Morris, but his best work has certainly come at St. Bonaventure. Hired in 2007, he was tasked with resurrecting a program in ruin and has been successful. He’s taken the Bonnies to several postseason runs, but is coming off a tough 14-18 season after reloading the roster this past offseason.

89. Micah Shrewsberry (Notre Dame) (Last year: 153)

• Overall record: 37-31

Much of Shrewsberry’s basketball experience has come in his home state of Indiana so it’s rather fitting that he takes over at Notre Dame. He was head coach at IU South Bend, and aided Brad Stevens during Butler’s two Final Four runs. Shrewsberry also assisted Stevens with the Boston Celtics and had two stints at Purdue with Matt Painter. The last two years were even more significant, as he began his D1 head coaching career at Penn State. He led the Nittany Lions to an impressive season that involved a first-round victory in the NCAA Tournament. We’ll see if success follows to South Bend.

88. Ryan Odom (VCU) (Last year: 119)

• Overall record: 149-96

Long before his UMBC squad upset 1-seed Virginia, Odom had been a collegiate assistant at several programs, including long stints at Virginia Tech and Charlotte. He’s been head coach at Lenoir-Rhyne (a D2 school), UMBC, and Utah State, getting the Aggies back into the NCAA Tournament this past season. Clearly, Odom’s finest achievement is that successful upset with the Retrievers, but he’s been sneaky good everywhere he’s gone and inherits a VCU program already in fantastic shape.

87. John Groce (Akron) (Last year: 87)

• Overall record: 296-201

After playing and coaching at Taylor, an NAIA school in Indiana, Groce joined Herb Sendek’s coaching staff at NC State. He would then follow fellow assistant Thad Matta to three schools, with success at Butler, Xavier, and Ohio State. Across four seasons, Groce won three NCAA Tournament games as head coach at Ohio but flamed out during five years in the Big Ten at Illinois. Back in the MAC, he was hired by Akron back in 2017 and got the Zips to the Big Dance in 2022. Last year was another 20-win campaign and a 3rd place finish in the MAC, with Akron remaining a contender in the league.

86. Rodney Terry (Texas) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 185-164

It’s hard to know what to make of Terry’s work last season with the Longhorns, but now he takes over as the full-time head coach in Austin. He was previously a high school coach and longtime assistant at Texas before head coaching stints at Fresno State and UTEP. He led the Bulldogs to the Big Dance but left UTEP before he had really rebuilt the Miners, joining Chris Beard’s staff two seasons ago. He just led a very talented Texas squad to the Elite Eight to cap off a wild and turbulent season; we’ll see how this program fares in the years to come under his control.

85. Tommy Amaker (Harvard) (Last year: 75)

• Overall record: 454-305

A former star player at Duke way back in the 1980’s, Amaker joined Coach K’s staff soon after his playing career ended and was part of multiple national championships with the Blue Devils. His head coaching career started back in 1997 at Seton Hall and featured decent success with the Pirates before a flat six years leading Michigan. Harvard brought Amaker aboard back in 2007 and were rewarded with four straight trips to the Big Dance, breaking a drought of more than sixty years. Unfortunately, the Crimson finished 7th in the Ivy League last year and have been struggling lately.

84. Travis Ford (Saint Louis) (Last year: 83)

• Overall record: 411-315

After playing college ball at Missouri and Kentucky, Ford got into coaching and has been a head coach continuously since 1997. After time at NAIA Campbellsville, he began his D1 career at Eastern Kentucky, leading the Colonels to the Big Dance. Ford would have varying levels of success in the coming years at UMass and Oklahoma State before he was hired by Saint Louis in 2016. He has gotten the Billikens back into contention in the A-10, including a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2019. Last year’s success included 21 victories and a tie for 2nd place in that tough mid-major league.

83. Shaheen Holloway (Seton Hall) (Last year: 67)

• Overall record: 81-70

Holloway was the perfect hire for Seton Hall last offseason, but patience will be required. He was a point guard for the Pirates in the late 90’s before spending several years playing professional ball. He was an assistant under Kevin Willard at both Iona and Seton Hall for over a decade before his head coaching career got started at Saint Peter’s. Leading the Peacocks, a 15-seed, to the Elite Eight in 2022 was one of the most incredible stories in recent memory, though Seton Hall finished just 17-16 in his first season as head coach.

82. Ron Hunter (Tulane) (Last year: 85)

• Overall record: 448-331

Hunter’s coaching career began with coaching stints with Milwaukee and Miami-Ohio before taking his first head coaching job at IUPUI in 1994. He took over a Jaguars program that was still NAIA and led them to the D1 level, including their first ever trip to the NCAA Tournament back in 2003. He then had massive success at Georgia State, including the unforgettable upset win over Baylor lead by his son RJ In 2015. Tulane hired him in 2019 and he’s slowly turned things around for the Green Wave, resulting in a 20-win season last year and a 3rd place mark in the AAC.

81. Johnny Dawkins (UCF) (Last year: 81)

• Overall record: 287-202

Another disciple of Mike Krzyzewski, Dawkins played for Duke in the early 80’s before playing in the NBA for nearly a decade. He rejoined Coach K in the late 90’s and spent a decade as an assistant with the Blue Devils. His first head coaching gig came at Stanford, where he’d take the Cardinal to a Sweet Sixteen and two NIT titles across eight seasons. He was hired by UCF in 2016, where he had a breakout campaign in year three with a trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. His Knights won 19 games and made the NIT last year and transition into the Big 12 this season.